Norwood calls off treatment

U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood will decline further cancer treatment and return home to Augusta to hospice care, his office announced Wednesday, but he is not resigning from Congress.

Norwood, 65, a Republican from Augusta who represents Athens and surrounding counties, suffers from a degenerative lung disease, as well as lung and liver cancer.

Most recently, he was diagnosed with a tumor in his liver. Doctors at Georgetown University Medical Center recommended laser surgery to remove the tumor, but he declined, his spokesman John Stone said.

Between Norwood's lung and liver ailments and chemotherapy, he has been too ill to work since he was re-elected to a seventh term in November.

"He has just been deathly sick, to the stomach, everything, for three months now," Stone said.

Norwood will fly from Washington to Augusta as soon as an air ambulance flight can be arranged, likely today, and will received around-the-clock nursing care at his home, Stone said Wednesday.

The congressman will not be able to vote from home, but his staff will continue to function normally in his absence, and he will direct staff members from home, Stone said.

"We will continue to do everything as if he's in the next room, not the next state," Stone said.

Norwood has a history of health problems dating back to 1998, when he was diagnosed with ideopathic pulmonary thrombosis. He underwent a lung transplant in 2004. In December 2005, doctors found a tumor on the non-transplanted lung and removed it.

By the time last year's campaign season rolled around, though, Norwood appeared healthy. Although he often used a motorized cart to get around, he had ditched the oxygen tank he'd carried around for more than a year after his transplant, and his body had accepted the organ to the point where he could shake hands without fear of falling ill.

However, in mid-November, doctors found another tumor and tried to treat it with chemotherapy. He missed most votes during the first month of the congressional session, but his staff insisted he was healthy and even released a photograph of Norwood standing to take the oath of office.

If Norwood dies or resigns, Gov. Sonny Perdue will have 10 days to call for a special election to fill the vacancy, to be held at least 30 days later. The election would be nonpartisan, meaning any number of candidates from either political party would appear on the same ballot.

Observers have speculated that a special election would create a free-for-all of candidates vying for a rare open seat. Frequently mentioned candidates include Democrats Terry Holley, a Grovetown jeweler who lost to Norwood last year; former state senator Carol Jackson of Habersham County and state Rep. Alan Powell of Hartwell. On the Republican side, state Sen. Ralph Hudgens of Comer, former state Sen. Brian Kemp of Athens, former Athens-Clarke County Mayor Doc Eldridge and Gary Black, a former candidate for state agriculture commissioner from Jackson County, are considered potential candidates.

Other lawmakers reacted to news of Norwood's decision with sympathy.

"Mary and I were very saddened to hear that Congressman Norwood's medical treatment has not progressed as well as we had hoped," Perdue said in a statement. "I visited with Charlie in Washington last week and was very encouraged by his strength and determination. This could not have been an easy decision for him and Gloria to make.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Charlie and Gloria and the entire Norwood family as they return home to Augusta - whose citizens have always been at the center of his heart and the focus of his life of public service. We join all Georgians in continued prayers for Charlie's recovery."

Holley and former representative Max Burns said they are praying for Norwood and his family.

"He's a great friend and a great colleague, and I look forward to working with him for years in future," Burns said.

"I was sorry to hear it," Holley said. "I think this is a turning point, obviously, but my heart goes out to him."